What the Anthem Awards Reveal About Brands, Influencers, and Who's Actually Doing the Work

The Anthem Awards, were established by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) the organization behind The Webby Awards, as a “benchmark for social impact work, recognizing brands, nonprofits, and individuals who are setting the standard for good worldwide.” Claire Graves, President of The Webby Awards, said the goal was to work directly with the changemaker community "as they are best positioned to know what real impact looks like," giving that community a hand in shaping the categories, criteria, and jury itself (Deadline). IADAS members volunteer as judges, and the program launched with foundational partners including The Ad Council, GLAAD, Born This Way Foundation, NRDC, Mozilla, World Wildlife Fund, and XQ Institute (Deadline). A portion of program revenue funds a grant program supporting emerging organizations still doing the work without the recognition (Anthem Awards).

As the industry shifts, the Anthem Awards are more relevant than ever. Born in 2021, during the rise of the digital ecosystem, the awards (and most people) have since noticed the oozing flood of misinformation and sensationalism, which drags down the reach and trust of even the best impact work. This adds up, given the fact that “a fifth of U.S. adults now regularly get their news on TikTok, up from just 3% in 2020.” Among adults under 30, that number is 43%, up from just 9% five years ago (Tomasik and Matsa). Platforms are changing and so is consumer trust in digital advertisements, but what is stopping the scroll and living up to The Anthem Awards motto of “setting the standard for good”?

The Anthem Awards give brands, agencies, and now individual creators a shot at recognition for purposeful work. But listening to what caught their attention thus far, a few things stood out: influencer campaigns are landing in the same conversation as work built by brands with years of purpose-driven infrastructure behind them and direct-to-consumer is winning. This raises questions around the validity of work produced and what gets awarded.

The Benchmark: Craft With Teeth

The Final Exam, a video game produced by Change the Ref an advocacy group founded by Manuel and Patricia Oliver after their son Joaquín was killed in the Parkland shooting to keep his voice alive. In collaboration with Webcore Games, The Final Exam asks if “you can survive the school day?” and reenacts a school shooting where understanding the importance of gun-control legislation is the only way out (GameSpot). When presented, the concept and execution of the idea stood out as the kind of project that’s provocative enough to earn recognition. By highlighting the real problem of gun legislation through the form of what gets blamed, players sit with the mechanics of policy failure instead of just narrating outrage. This campaign was memorable, demonstrating years of concepting, a clear problem, and genuine purpose.

Which is why the next campaign that was put on our radar was so surprising: MrBeast.

Real Impact, Questionable Reputation

MrBeast, alongside Mark Rober and more than 3,000 creators, led #TeamWater, a campaign that raised $40 million for WaterAid in about a month, funding clean water access for 2 million people through solar-powered wells and gravity-fed pipelines (WaterAid). "We're pairing the power of the world's most influential content creators with WaterAid's decades of on-the-ground experience to tackle one of the world's most solvable challenges: the global water crisis," said Kelly Parsons, CEO of WaterAid America (Sweet).

The impact is incredible… $40 million. However, what’s worth sitting with is that the face of the campaign doesn't have a brand-purpose-forward track record. He built his audience on stunts and spectacle. This does not disqualify the effort, but it does raise the actual question this moment poses to the marketing industry: when a brand or a cause partners with a creator for reach, what are they actually vetting for? Follower count and virality are not the same thing as alignment.

MrBeast has been scrutinized online since rising to fame for his intense, outlandish challenges, along with ongoing legal disputes. It’s probably because of his reputation that rumors circled online regarding the wells where they had to provide “video proof” to stop the backlash (Cartwright).

This makes us question was MrBeast the right influencer to award?

What Influencer Alignment Actually Looks Like

Ciara Miller's Girl Scouts campaign is the clearer answer. She raised $160,000 for programs supporting families in New York's shelter system, tied to the Girl Scouts of Greater New York's Gold Achievement Gala. She did it as a Girl Scout alum herself, pointing her platform back at an organization that shaped her (Bravo). The impact number is smaller than #TeamWater's, yet Ciara moved quickly to give back in midst of her rise in popularity online.

The comparison of these influencer-backed campaigns show the distinction brands need to be making when they evaluate influencer partnerships for purpose-driven work: it’s not just "how big is this creator's reach," but "does this creator have a consistent, accountable relationship to the cause they're representing." Ciara's campaign works because there's a throughline: her history with Girl Scouts predates the fundraiser and will outlast it. That's what makes a moment credible in the eyes of the modern audience.

The Other Shift: Simplicity Is Winning

Another observation we made from the selection was Liquid I.V.'s storytelling around its clean water partnerships (direct to camera, minimal production, just mixing the product while stating the facts). This short-form informative advertisement points to a second trend worth naming: the rise of direct-to-consumer, stripped-down marketing, that values consistency over large production (Anthem Awards). Compare that to year-long media plans and concepting timelines legacy brand-purpose campaigns have historically required, and the gap is stark.

Is this what's working in 2026? Increasingly, yes. The audience trusts a direct-to-camera moment from valued influencers and brands with a connection to the cause. It will be fascinating to see the implications for where marketing budgets and creative development time should go in the future, especially when promoting impact.

The Impact Gap

There's a real gap right now between vanity metrics and lasting impact in influencer-led initiatives. Reach is easy to measure. Alignment, consistency, and accountability are not, especially with the creator industry changing much quicker than a celebrity sign-on. “88% of Americans surveyed by Tiltify believe creator-led fundraising will become more common than traditional methods within the next five years,” a conviction strongest among Gen Z and Millennial donors (Tiltify).

What we look for at grounded is the Flywheel of Impact, a framework helping to “remove the barriers to partnership, participation and stakeholder engagement by unlocking the money to power your mission and support real-world programming and commitments.” This includes evaluating whether a partnership truly aligns or just wants reach, and calling out tone-deaf campaigns. The Anthem Awards selections prove that influencers belong in the social-impact conversation. As we move forward, the industry must set the standard, telling us who deserves to be there. Cases like BI GGBY Coffee, working to source 100% of its beans through their farm-direct regenerative agriculture model OBIIS (One BIGG Island in Space) by 2028, utilizes empathy, storytelling, and personal purpose as the key to building better. That’s where the magic happens.